The subject application relates generally to corn headers used with combine harvesters. In particular, the subject application relates to an improved corn header having a row unit with a lockout fastener that allows an operator to adjust or remove a gathering chain while maintaining the gathering chain tensioner system in a retracted state.
An agricultural combine is a machine used to harvest a variety of crops from a field. During a harvesting operation of, e.g., corn, a corn header at the front of the combine cuts ripened crop from the field. A feederhouse downstream the corn header transfers the crop material to the downstream processes of the combine. Threshing and separating assemblies within the combine remove grain from the crop material and transfers the grain to a grain tank for temporary holding. Crop material other than grain (MOG) exits from the rear of the combine.
Combines that harvest corn are provided with a corn header having row dividers for directing rows of corn stalks to row units that include ear separation chambers or stripping plates, and then to an auger for conveying the corn to the feederhouse of the combine. Conventional corn headers rely on the forward motion of the tapered row divider to lift and move crop plants into the row units, assisted by gathering chains that are integral to the row units and that move adjacent to the stripping plates. However, the gathering chains require periodic maintenance, which will necessitate the adjustment or complete removal of the gathering chain. Carrying out this procedure on a conventional corn header requires a lockout tool to maintain the gathering chain tensioner system in a retracted state, or else, a complete disassembly of the tensioner system. As such, this would leave an operator or maintenance worker with only one free hand to manipulate and remove the gathering chain, as the other hand is occupied keeping the lockout tool in position to maintain the tensioner system in the retracted state. Depending on the size and weight of the gathering chain, as well as that of the human operator and the force required to maintain the tensioner system in the retracted state, this procedure could prove unduly difficult for a single person to carry out. The difficulty of this procedure also poses risks of economic loss due to operator injury or lost productivity when a worker is required to reassemble a tensioner system for maintenance or breakdown issues.
Thus, there is a need for a lockout mechanism that addresses the foregoing deficiencies in conventional corn header systems. This need is satisfied by the subject application of a row unit having a lockout assembly for a gathering chain of an agricultural harvester.